Fifty of the more than 300 students kidnapped from a Nigerian Catholic school last week have escaped, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Sunday.
The pupils escaped between Friday and Saturday and have since been reunited with their parents, CAN’s chair, Bulus Yohanna, said in a statement.
About 253 children and 12 staff members were still with the kidnappers, added Yohanna, a Catholic bishop who is also the proprietor of the school.
Gunmen kidnapped students and teachers from St Mary’s school in the north-west of the country on Friday, the latest in a spate of school attacks this week that has forced the government to shut 47 colleges.
Pope Leo asked on Sunday for the immediate release of the abducted children and staff.
“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages,” Leo said at the end of a mass in St Peter’s Square in Rome.